Progress for Mobile Payment options

2ergo Group, AIM-listed provider of convergent mobile communication solutions, has integrated the Payforit functionality into its Multiserve Platform and established billing connections with all the major UK networks.

Payforit was developed to promote a safe and trustworthy environment under which mobile phone users may purchase goods and services from the mobile internet and charge to their mobile phone. Under the scheme, mobile internet billing requests will no longer be handled by individual mobile service providers, but by a trusted party, known as an ‘Accredited Payment Intermediary’. 2ergo, one of a select number of approved intermediaries, is the first to gain multiple network connectivity and launch its Payforit offering.

Barry Sharples, Joint CEO of 2ergo, commented: “By allowing consumers to clearly see what they are purchasing and how much they will be charged, it will significantly help to reduce the potential consumer confusion the industry currently faces.”

The scheme will also benefit mobile service providers by reducing uncollectible income, due to the consumer needing to have enough credit on their phone for a transaction to take place. The simplified purchasing process should also help to reduce customer complaints and billing issues thereby saving costs and time.

Upaid has launched its own membership-based payment services specifically aimed at the online content and the m-commerce markets. The service will be open to UK and European vendors.

From the users’ angle it will be a simple, risk-free way to pay for content. “With the new Bango subscription service, users have a clear understanding of what they are entering into, know exactly the status of each subscription and have a simple means of stopping future payments,” says Ray Anderson, Bango CEO. “Having a single point of control and management avoids problems encountered with old-style disparate SMS subscriptions.”

Upaid says it will offer a better financial cut for content owners, allowing smaller content providers to compete on a level playing field.

Content providers simply set the frequency and define the initial introductory and standard repeat prices. Bango ensures that there are no barriers to signing up and takes care of the complexity along with management and legal issues.

Bango ensures that consumers see the terms and conditions before confirmation of any payments, so it’s clear how much the service costs and the frequency of the payments. The integration with the payment flow in a mobile internet session overcomes the problems of a disparate SMS message based approach where the terms and conditions are separated from the payment experience.

Consumers also have an easy way of controlling their subscriptions. By visiting bango.net on their mobile phone, or clicking on a link from the content provider’s mobile site, they clearly see the details and status of all their active subscriptions – with a one-click option to cancel future payments.

Bango safe subscription is also fully compliant with Payforit.

• A recent Octegra white paper highlights the influence that payment methodologies are having on the success of mobile content services, concluding that fair division of revenues are crucial for future success of mobile content services.

The white paper, commissioned by Valista, finds that direct-to-bill payments provide the best revenue split for both operators and content owners, giving operators a 27% share of content purchases and content royalties forming 30% of the revenues.

Octegra’s research found that premium SMS purchases primarily benefit the mobile operator, who receives 45% of the revenue, with the content owner getting only 14%. In credit card payments both groups lose out, with the operator getting a 25% cut, and content royalties only forming 12%. In this scenario the third party billing provider scoops 33% of the total revenue.